Book Club: The League of Frightened Men

[jest]

Sorry to be sliding this in at the last minute. There was a volcano. It erupted.



League of Frightened Men continues the trend of Archie acting like a five year old. In this case, a five year old with attention deficit disorder. The story opens with Wolfe and Archie in the office. Archie is in the middle of an I'm BORED, Pay Attention to Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee tantrum. I suspect that Archie Goodwin is every bit as high maintenance as Nero Wolfe himself.

While Archie throws pejoratives around like it is 1935, we are introduced to the antagonist, Paul Chapin, who became disabled during a hazing incident that took place at Harvard University. Paul Chapin is an Evil Cripple, with shades of Genius Cripple. I am really curious about how prevalent these tropes were when Rex Stout was writing this book. My familiarity with the Evil Cripple/Evil Wheelchair User comes mostly from Doctor Who; I'm not sure what sort of presence it had before that.

Anyway, enter Paul Chapin, psychopath. Enter the cowardly clients. Who exactly is intended to be the sympathetic character in this book? Evelyn Hibbard seemed like a good person, but she was only around for about five pages.

Which reminds me, although Wolfe is the character that is generally considered to be a misogynist I actually found Archie's attitude towards women the more offensive in this book. All his comments about women are along the lines of "…provided she's not just an item for the cleaners" or "nobody that knew merchandise would have put her on a bargain counter." It speaks volumes. Whereas Wolfe is "the only man I had ever met who used absolutely the same tone to a woman as to a man."

Archie's favorable opinion of other men seems to based on a combination of intelligence, competence, work ethic, nerve, and social class. He has a certain amount of contempt for college boys and the class privilege they represent. He obviously likes to think of himself as a working man. In Chapter 7 Archie refuses to let Fritz bring him his glass of milk in the evening, presumably because Archie doesn't like to think of himself as someone who needs to be waited on?

Wolfe's attitude towards Archie's intelligence is condescending, and who can blame him? Archie is more often in the role of man of action than man of intelligence. He claims that he has been working for Wolfe for seven years. This is easy to believe when they fight like an old married couple. At one point Archie is yelling at Wolfe when Orrie shows up with Paul Chapin's box, causing Archie to immediately break out the respectful tone and it's all, Honey, let's not fight in front of the company. *g*

But, seriously, what exactly has Archie been doing for seven years? Keeping orchid records? Body guarding? Nursing Wolfe through relapses?

Wolfe's agoraphobia and relapses are one of the most interesting features of the early books, and are something I like to keep track of.

In chapter 10:

"…but I was thinking of suggesting that you go out and look at him."
"Out?" Wolfe raised his head at me. "Out and down the stoop?"
"Yeah, just on the sidewalk, you wouldn't have to step off the curb. He's right there."
Wolfe shut his eyes. "I don't know, Archie. I don't know why you persist in trying to badger me into frantic sorties. Dismiss the notion entirely. It is not feasible."

Of course, we need to recognize the significance of Wolfe leaving the house to appreciate the scene where Archie has been drugged and is devastated at the thought that Wolfe might be murdered.

(Confession: every time I read it that scene makes me squeee so hard that I actually have to put the book down and pace around my flat enjoying it for a while before I can resume reading.)

In Chapter 11: "I have seen him, during a relapse, dispose completely of a ten-pound goose between eight o'clock and midnight."

That strikes me as a symptom of something other than eccentricity.


Thoughts? Opinions?

Comments

[liviapenn]

My thoughts!

In the second sentence of the book, if you're paying close enough attention to the implications, Archie actually gives away the twist in the last chapter! As it turned out, the name of Paul Chapin, and his slick and thrifty notions about getting vengeance at wholesale without paying for it, would have come to our notice pretty soon in any event.... Oh Rex Stout. :D

Also notable in this opening scene is the part where Archie is needling Wolfe. Okay, first of all, it's just CUTENESS, esp. the bit about the snowflakes. "You mustn't go to sleep, sir, you freeze to death!" When he moves on to reading silly things out of the paper at Wolfe-- you know, this is actually not the last time that some random thing Archie reads in the paper (1) seems to be random, but actually someone walks into the office in two seconds and asks them to take that very case, or (2) seems to be random and unrelated, but actually is totally related to the case they're currently on, which means either that it's a convenient dramatic device on Rex Stout's part, OR that Archie's subconscious is smarter than even he gives it credit for. *G*

I mean, at least this time there is some plausibility, because he reads like six different things before he hits on the one that makes Wolfe go "Hey, wait a minute," but iirc later on in the canon he just randomly picks up the paper, is like "Did you see this?" and oh yeah, it HAPPENS TO BE A VITAL CLUE. It's almost like over the years he starts becoming vaguely genre aware and doing it on purpose because he knows that randomly picking up the paper and reading something out of it will provide relevant information, like reading the I Ching or something.

-- Then there's this:

"Suppose you read it."

"Viva voce?"

"Archie." Wolfe looked at me. "Where did you pick that up, where did you learn to pronounce it, and what do you think it means?"

"Do you want me to read this stuff out loud, sir?"

"It doesn't mean out loud. Confound you."

This is so adorable and *domestic*. I love Wolfe's befuddlement and low-key grumpiness. That last "Confound you", I'm sure, is covering up an inner "Archie stop being SO ADORABLE."

Speaking of Archie and Wolfe being totally married, which we weren't, this bit from Chapter 3: "No, sir. I wouldn't for anything. A trick is okay, and a deep trick is the staff of life for some people, but where you've got us to at present is wallowing in the unplumbed depths of - wait a minute, I'll look it up, I think it's in Spenser."

Crushing Archie Goodwin sarcasm (tm)! And then Wolfe's response:

"Archie, I warn you, some day you are going to become dispensable." He stirred a little. "If you were a woman and I were married to you, which God forbid, no amount of space available on this globe, to separate us, would put me at ease. ...."

Okay, first of all, Wolfe just told Archie he was indispensable! <3 (Wolfe probably wouldn't have said this except that before the book starts Archie had to go away and be replaced by a stenographer + bodyguard, so he kind of already knows he's irreplaceable.)

But then, okay, the comment about "if you were a woman and if we were married!" I... I actually can't even parse this. Every clause is weirder than the next. Why say "God forbid" about something as impossible as being married to Archie? And then, the thing is, Archie is about as annoying as it's possible to be just as he is! How could he be WORSE for Wolfe's nerves if they were married? It's like, they already live together, they already eat meals together... I mean, I guess Wolfe wouldn't be able to order Wife!Archie to STFU, but then on the other hand, it's 1939, maybe he would! Also it's not like Regular!Archie ever listens when Wolfe orders him to shut up ANYWAY, so what exactly would the difference be? And then there's the part about "no amount of space available on this globe...." Why even bring that part up? "Basically our relationship is exactly like a husband/wife relationship. Except for the part where, when you go far away, I can relax. And I suspect I wouldn't feel that way if I were hypothetically married to a woman and *she* went away." What is that even supposed to mean? Is this some kind of reference to the fact that Archie *did* just go away for a while? Poor Wolfe, constantly beset with Crushing Archie Goodwin Sarcasm, and only free of it for short breaks, where he can relax and be at ease. <3

Chapter 3 also has one of Archie's first references to looking things up in the dictionary (and, specifically, using the dictionary to point out when Wolfe is equivocating or being hypocritical)...

".... Why did you steal it?"

"I borrowed it."

"You say. I've looked in the dictionary. ...."

Bee hee hee.

Also, when Wolfe is discussing whether or not Paul Chapin would hide Hibbard's body specifically so that Evelyn Hibbard wouldn't get the insurance money: "....even a delay in an enemy's good fortune is at least a minor pleasure. Worth such a finesse if you have it in you.

I always find this kind of thing significant, when Wolfe uses the first person to talk about what the killers did/said. Usually it's when he's doing the big charade reveal speech at the end-- "And then I picked up the thing and crushed his skull," etc.-- but, he does it here, too. He doesn't say "A man like Chapin might think it was worth such a finesse, if he had it in him--" no, this is Wolfe telling Archie, "I think it WOULD be worth it to do such a thing in this situation, if you had the backbone, or the ruthlessness. " Is this Wolfe being dramatic and romantic? Or does he mean it? A little of both, I think.

(There is more to come, but I'm not doing a post every three chapters, I swear!)

[jest]

Haha, the danger of trying to quote a favourite part is the risk of quoting the entire book. *g*

As it turned out, the name of Paul Chapin, and his slick and thrifty notions about getting vengeance at wholesale without paying for it,

I definitely noted that the first time I read it. I took LoFM as one of those reverse-mysteries when the entire book is about revealing how the obvious suspect didn't commit the crime.

The "If you were a woman and we were married..." line is SO odd. Presumably, if Wolfe was married to Archie, Wolfe wouldn't be able to fire him when he gets too annoying, but the whole you're fired/I quit dynamics haven't actually been acted out yet. But maybe it was all already at play in Rex Stout's head? IDEK.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT WHEN WOLFE USES FIRST PERSON TO TALK ABOUT WHAT KILLERS DID/SAID. So much that it warrants all capslock! I like the parallel it creates between Wolfe and the killer. I think Wolfe has incredible potential for violence and/or crime. IIRC, in one of the books there is an illusion to Wolfe's activities in the Baltic during the war that hints of torture and murder. There are times when Wolfe seems to have far more in common with the criminals he catches than with, say, the police.

[liviapenn]

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT WHEN WOLFE USES FIRST PERSON TO TALK ABOUT WHAT KILLERS DID/SAID. So much that it warrants all capslock! I like the parallel it creates between Wolfe and the killer. I think Wolfe has incredible potential for violence and/or crime.

Potential, hell! *Is* there a book where Wolfe manages to earn a fee without committing a crime (or ordering Archie to do so) in the process? (And then there's all those times where he pressures/nudges the killer into suicide...) Yeah, I don't think he'd understand crimes (esp. of passion) so well unless he had that potential & a dark history to go along with it. (In "Nero Wolfe of West 35th St" Baring-Gould theorizes that Wolfe murdered a woman-- his wife?-- in Montenegro before his final return to the U.S., and I have to admit I was thinking along those lines myself, although I also bet that if that happened, spying/international politics was probably mixed up in it as well...)

[soupytwist]

The "if you were a woman and we were married" thing is so weird and adorable! Like, god only knows what Stout/Wolfe thought he was saying with the married bit if not "let me vaguely and yet definitely gay about this", but the "one day you might be dispensable!" bit is exactly like two married friends of mine who make "you'll be sorry when Angelina Jolie calls me and I have to divorce you!" type jokes all the time. They are kind of sickeningly adorable in much the same way Wolfe and Archie are. :)

[dorinda]

But then, okay, the comment about "if you were a woman and if we were married!"

Ahh, yes. That's the topic I kept intending to go back to for Fer-de-Lance. But here will do just as well!

I admit I adore, as well as find very telling, that recurring idea from Wolfe about *if you were a woman and we were married* and *good thing you're not a woman and we're not married!* and so forth. To my mind, it meshes perfectly with Archie's tendency (which only grows more marked) to pretend-threaten to get married in order to put a scare into Wolfe.

By which I mean (as I think you had discussed in your LJ, liviapenn?) that each of them automatically (if perhaps tacitly, though just barely) sees the other as filling that spouse-role. So if Archie were a woman of course they would be married; if Archie got married to a woman of course that would mean he'd be abandoning Wolfe (the intensity of Wolfe's emotional reaction to that is brought most explicitly to the fore, perhaps, in "Christmas Party"...sigh! ♥).

The structure of the dynamic doesn't even need to be originally built by fannish readings in order to play with it--the characters themselves keep bringing it up, poking at it, and reinforcing it. In short: WHO CAN BLAME ME. :D

[liviapenn]

that each of them automatically (if perhaps tacitly, though just barely) sees the other as filling that spouse-role. So if Archie were a woman of course they would be married; if Archie got married to a woman of course that would mean he'd be abandoning Wolfe

Yeah, and-- it's kind of weird for that to be *the only thing* Archie ever mentions as something that would take him away from Wolfe. (Well, besides the "someday I'll just get pissed off and quit and MAYBE one day it will really be for real!" which I don't think even Archie takes seriously; I'm pretty sure he says a couple different times that it's just to blow off steam/release tension that they do that.) He just has no interest in leaving at all, ever, for any other reason, besides maybe the fact that you couldn't really expect a married woman to live in two spare rooms in her husband's boss's house. And yet even in Christmas Party *Wolfe finds it plausible* that Archie would (1) *want* to do this, and (2) actually be able to convince a woman to do this! Wolfe *totally believes* that Archie would rather live with his wife under Wolfe's roof than get his own place! I mean, *wow*. Even Watson moved out when he got married!